Five for Friday, Friday Flashback, & Giveaways!

Linking up for Five for Friday and Friday Flashback...

Well, it has been a whirlwind of a week! Courtney and I have been finishing out the year with our students this week.  Lots of odds and ends have been done in preparation for their send off--Friday being their last full day with us.  What a wonderful year we have had!

1. Cinderella Stories

Both Courtney's and my students finished up their explorations of Cinderella stories from around the words and from different cultures.  We started out by reading a tradition/classic version of Cinderella (familiar to students), Cinderella: A Fairy Tale by Charles Perrault.

Courtney's students heard various versions of Cinderella read aloud and completed a comparison chart. Download chart here.

My students paired up to read a version of Cinderella with a partner and then did an oral retelling with another pair of students. Below are the various versions of Cinderella that our students explored.  

My students did a wonderful job problem solving new words when reading, as all versions read by students provided a healthy challenge.  I was impressed with how well they worked together in pairs to make sure what they were reading made good sense.  I was equally as impressed with their ability to orally retell the version they read to another pair of students.  Students completed a chart on 11" x 17" paper so they could easily compare each version.  Click here to download.

2. This & That

All of the end of the year happenings went on this week--cleaning desks, taking down displays, participating in end of the year incentives, etc.  Our last full day was a Read-a-Thon! It turned out to be a beautiful day!  Kids read to self, with partners, read outside, listened to reading, etc.  Fun and snacks were had by all!  

3. Summer Buckets of Fun!

Courtney and I put together end of the year buckets for kids after reading Amanda's post over at Teaching Maddeness. She is also offering her summer bucket unit as a FREEBIE this week in her TpT store, the Teacher's Clubhouse--so head over and check it out! After we saw Amanda's original post, we were off and running, making buckets of summer fun for our kids...

We purchased our sand buckets at Dollar Tree and Target for $1. Thanks for the great idea, Amanda!  Click here to download a bucket tag and popsicle wrapper.

I included some of Lory Evans' Summer Fun in the Sun math games, many of The Teacher Cauldrons' Math with a Deck of Cards activities, 3 die, 20 counters of two colors (circle punched from cardstock), a deck of cards, paperclips for spinners, a bookmark and our local library's summer reading program information, a list of 100 Things to Do Instead of Watching TV/Playing Video Games (inspired by Amanda at Teaching Maddeness), a MovieMaker movie containing all of the photos the kids and I have taken during the year, an addressed envelope (with colored lined paper inside) so the kids can use their friendly letter writing skills to write me over the summer, a class autobiographical poem book, freezer pops, and some shades (from a previous inferring lesson).  In about half of my students' buckets, I also included a set of addition flashcards labeled, "Brush Up on Your Facts". I put a note inside each box--download here. I also wrote the kids' names on the front with a jumbo permanent marker.

4. 100 Followers Giveaway!!

We have almost reached 100 followers and will be gearing up for a giveaway!  We are thrilled and will have some goodies to giveaway soon!

UPDATE: Thanks so much to all who donated to our 100 Followers Giveaway! We will have the giveaway up and running this Thursday...

5. Fabulous Blog Giveaways!

Check out these great giveaways this week--ending SOON! You can win $10 from my Teachers Pay Teachers store and much more!

  

Joy in the Journey 200 Follower Giveaway!

 

The Compassionate Teacher's 100 Follower Giveaway!

Last, but not least, please take the time to head over to The Teacher's Treasure Chest to learn more about a wonderful fundraising effort.  Our hearts go out to those in Oklahoma...